Seattle Forward

The Hard Work of Innovative Policing

Two weeks ago I spoke on a panel at a White House forum on innovations in policing about Seattle’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program. The LEAD program allows the police and prosecutors to redirect nonviolent, low level adult offenders away from the criminal justice system and to social service providers.

I’m a big fan of necessary innovations like LEAD as we seek on many fronts to address the failure of mass incarceration in this country. You may have heard this statistic: the United States accounts for 5% of the world’s population, but we hold 25% of the world’s prisoners. Our country incarcerates far too many people (including juveniles) and perpetuates a criminal justice system that punishes people of color at a much higher rate than their white counterparts. We’ve even shamefully nurtured a for-profit prison industry that now applies political pressure to achieve higher levels of detention and incarceration.

It’s just wrong to put individuals addicted to alcohol and drugs or suffering through a mental health crisis in prison if their crimes are low-level, non-violent, petty offenses. Unfortunately, as a society, we do it far too often.

LEAD is one response to this tragic reality.

Death Penalty Repeal Receives Hearing in Olympia

This morning the House Judiciary Committee of the Washington State Legislature held a hearing on HB 1739, legislation that would repeal the death penalty in favor of a sentence of life in prison.

As I've written previously, the death penalty delivers a false promise of safety and justice.

I traveled down to Olympia this morning to give testimony to the committee in support of the legislation; many other advocates, community members, and family members of victims did the same.

Here is the video of my testimony to the Committee (it may take a few seconds to load): 

January City Inside/Out: Council Edition

Earlier this month I joined Councilmembers Bagshaw and O'Brien and host Brian Callanan on the Seattle Channel to talk about Bertha, encampments and public safety issues. You can watch the video below.

The False Promise of the Death Penalty

Two high-profile death penalty trials are underway in King County Superior Court: the 2009 assassination of Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton and the 2007 Christmas Eve mass murders of three generations of the Anderson family in Carnation. Both crimes were horrific, senseless acts of hatred and violence that caused incredibly searing pain, suffering and loss for the victims’ families, friends, neighbors and the broader community.

But, the death penalty delivers nothing more than a false promise.

I was a Seattle police officer in the 1970s. I spent many nights in my patrol car doing exactly what Officer Brenton and his partner, Britt Sweeney, were doing when they were shot. As a Councilmember, I went to Harborview the night Officer Brenton died. I spoke briefly with Officer Sweeney. The targeted murder of Officer Brenton strikes a deep chord of grief within me. As a father of three and grandfather of two, the slaying of the Andersons does the same.

I want swift and certain justice delivered to their killers, but the death penalty won’t provide that swiftness or certainty.

Some people believe they are safer because of the death penalty; they’re not. 

On State and Local Marijuana Regulation

Earlier this week City Attorney Holmes released a very helpful summary of the current status of marijuana regulations in Washington State. He also includes his recommendations for a single, integrated regulatory framework at the State level that provides access to products for medical patients and recreational users. The State Legislature will have to tackle this issue (among many others) in the upcoming legislative session in Olympia.

Like our City Attorney, I support the creation of a single, state-regulated system that meets the needs of both medical patients and adult recreational users. I do not believe that the City should get out in front and adopt any new regulations for medical marijuana ahead of action by the State Legislature. Such a step would send confusing messages to the provider and patient communities and our legislators.

Instead, we should focus our current enforcement tools—including civil forfeiture of products—on the worst illegitimate actors in today’s market. I appreciate the Mayor’s announcement last month to step up the City’s enforcement efforts on delivery operations and dispensaries operating without a business license.

The longer the City delays in enforcing current laws related to commercial production and distribution of marijuana the greater the risk that (1) the I-502 framework will be undercut and, frankly, ruined; (2) criminal enterprises will become entrenched and more difficult to dislodge; and (3) public support of the policy objectives of I-502 will wane. 

Looking Upstream

The following article was sent out in my City View Newsletter, which you can sign up to receive here.

President Obama announced a new initiative today—Invest in US—to raise awareness about the value of early learning. The president made the announcement at a White House Summit on Early Learning that Mayor Murray, King County Executive Dow Constantine and I are attending. 

The Summit includes a variety of national experts discussing the critical importance of child development in the first five years of life. What I’ve heard so far has reinforced my belief that we can overcome poverty and close the opportunity gap for our children of color. I make this point in a piece published earlier today by The Stranger. We know what to do. We must continue to build the political will to do it.

Reflections on Ferguson and Seattle

The following article was posted today on Crosscut.

It has been just over a week since the grand jury made its decision in the Ferguson case, my hope is that we can soon get beyond the conflicting evidence presented to the jurors and focus on the undeniable and powerful subtext that permeates this story. Understanding this subtext holds the key to the change I believe we all want to see. We must also identify specific actions that will contribute to this change or risk losing an opportunity to move forward.

Among African Americans, tension and conflict with the police is deeply rooted in decades of mistrust and weariness over police misconduct, corruption and persistent crime in many neighborhoods. It is a relationship that is profoundly troubled and, as we have seen, all too often leads to tragic consequences.

Tragic for black men and boys who are arrested and imprisoned or killed by police at a disproportionate rate. Tragic for black families who often live in neighborhoods with high rates of crime and who urgently desire effective police services. Tragic for entire cities that must carry the moral and monetary costs of this reality.

How did we get here? And, looking forward, what can we do to change it?

Justice for Our Youth

The City Council voted Monday to pass a land use amendment that will allow the County more flexibility in designing a new Children and Family Justice Center on 12^th Avenue in the Central District. (In 2012, King County voters approved a nine-year, $210 million levy to replace the deteriorating facility.)

While a text amendment to the land use code initiated the Council’s process, the public discussion wasn’t really about a land use decision. It was a discussion about the nature of our juvenile justice system. Many community advocates gave eloquent and passionate testimony about how the current system fails youth – particularly youth of color who are disproportionately represented among those detained. They don’t want more money spent on a system that perpetuates these inequities.

While King County has made admirable progress reducing the use of juvenile detention over the last 15-20 years, continuing high levels of racial disparities show that we have not escaped the nationwide scourge of mass incarceration. We know that detention is not a good place for our youth and yet we struggle with how to balance that reality while keeping the broader community safe.

Boiled down, the juvenile justice system centers on a few important desires:

• The desire to help our youth in difficult situations;
• The desire to have a fair justice system free from racial disproportionality; and
• The desire to keep our communities safe.

I believe everyone involved in the discussion to date – members of the community, City government, and King County government – shares these desires. At the same time, I think those working within the system sometimes feel that community advocates ignore hard realities about public safety, while the advocates sometimes feel that individuals in the system lack imagination and motivation to try alternative methods of justice.

If we move past these initial feelings, there is space for a very productive dialogue that leads to action.

Study Shows Gun Violence Begets Gun Violence

With a City Council vote in June of 2013, Seattle became the first city in the nation to fund direct research on gun safety. The Council took this action because the National Rifle Association consistently blocks research funding at the federal level and because our leaders in Washington, DC and Olympia have been unable to enact reasonable gun safety measures.

Specifically, the City Council asked researchers from the University of Washington’s Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center to evaluate interrelationships between hospitalizations due to gun violence, substance abuse, mental health diagnoses, arrest records and deaths.  Today, the researchers presented their findings to the Council.

The evidence shows gun violence begets gun violence.  If you are harmed by a gun, you are much more likely to be harmed again or to harm others. 

Governor Issues Capital Punishment Moratorium

Governor Inslee today issued a moratorium on executions in Washington State while he serves as governor. He explained the reasons behind his decision in a statement to the media.

As I’ve written before on this blog, many of these same reasons have led me to oppose the death penalty. Bravo to the governor for his thoughtful review of this issue and his principled stand.